35 Quotes by Ibn Warraq

In the West we are free to think what we want, to read what we want, to practice our religion, to live as we choose. Liberty is codified in human rights, a magnificent Western creation but also, I believe, a universal good.

Surprisingly one of the forces for secularisation was Christianity itself. As soon as it accepted the idea of a contrary opinion, the moment that European opinion decided for toleration, it decided for eventual free marketing opinion.

I think forgiveness plays a very important part in Western society and it comes from the Judeo Christian heritage.

Abolitionism did not find positive response in Africa as it did in Western societies and cultures.

Because of its exceptional capacity for self-criticism, the West took the initiative in abolishing slavery; the calls for abolition did not resonate even in black Africa, where rival African tribes took black prisoners to be sold as slaves in the West.

1. My contention is that “Surah” is an arabicized form of the Hebrew name 171′01 B’ surah, that is, Gospel, given to the Christian Gospels during the early centuries of Christianity and adopted in the Qur’an for “revelation.

Muslims have not ever been told to examine their faith in a critical way, so the shock is going to be even greater for them, as it is for any child who lives in an over-protected environment, who suddenly has to go out and earn a living and has to stand up on his own feet.

The harsh truth that this is the only life we have should make us try and improve it for as many people as possible.

The origins of the modern West are often seen in the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, but the roots of the Enlightenment can be found in habits of mind cultivated in Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem, and the institutions that grew from them.